The term used in the title was first employed, in 1851, in my _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, where evidence was adduced in proof of man’s presence in Britain “long anterior to the earliest indications of the Aryan nations passing into Europe.” It was purposely coined to express the whole period disclosed to us by means of archæological evidence, as distinguished from what is known through written records; and in this sense the term was speedily adopted by the Archæologists of Europe. But the subject thus defined is a comprehensive one; and in its rapid growth, distinctive subdivisions have been introduced which tend to narrow the application of the term. Nevertheless it is still a legitimate definition of man, wherever his history is recoverable solely by means of primitive arts. The first edition of _Prehistoric Man_, published in 1862, was followed in 1865 by another, carefully revised in accordance with later disclosures. Since then I have availed myself of further opportunities for study and research in reference both to existing races, and to the arts and monumental remains of extinct nations of the New World. Within the same period important additions have been contributed to our knowledge not only of the arts, but of the physical characteristics of primeval man in Europe. In the present edition, accordingly, much of the original work has been rewritten. Several chapters have been replaced by new matter. Others have been condensed, or recast, with considerable modifications and a new arrangement of the whole. The illustrations have been correspondingly augmented; and some of them engraved anew from more accurate drawings. In the first edition they numbered seventy-one. They now amount to one hundred and thirty-four, including several for which I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., to the publishers of _Nature_, and to the Council of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. D. W. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO, _18th November 1875_. C O N T E N T S CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The Influence of the Discovery of America—The Old World and the New—American Phases of Life—The Term Prehistoric—Influence of Migrations—What is Civilisation?—Domestication—Indian Philosophy—Aborigines—The Tartar; The Arab—Languages of America—Wanderings of the Nations—Fossil Man—Occupation of the New World, 1